The Big Picture
After a cold morning with some scattered frost, we'll see sunshine fade away with a few spotty showers this afternoon. Sun returns tomorrow for a spell, which will be quite literally our calm before the storm. Rain and snow move in later Friday into Saturday morning with Saturday itself being one of the nastiest May days on record. Seriously. From there, things improve a touch for Mothers' Day with that gradual trend pushing into next week.
Today
High clouds are already encroaching from the southwest, but we're still under mainly clear skies all across our area. With no wind, temperatures are chilly and they're all over the place. Many 20s west and north of Albany, including middle 20s in the Adirondacks. Closer and into the Hudson Valley, temps range from the low to the upper 30s. A frost advisory remains in effect until 8 a.m.
Clouds will gradually build through this morning as a storm passes us to the south. This storm will be close enough to push a few widely scattered showers in from the mid-Atlantic as we get into the afternoon and early evening. They'll be confined from the Tri-Cities south, and they'll neither be heavy nor long-lasting. Highs today will top out in the upper 40s to the upper 50s.
Any showers will push out to the east this evening with some slow clearing to follow. Wind will remain light with lows overnight in the upper 20s to the upper 30s.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow will be similar to today in some respects: we'll start the day chilly and quietly with clouds moving in through the morning. These however will be coming in from the west, courtesy of a cold front that'll be headed our way for the afternoon. Some widely scattered showers will pop up and move through, but it'll be a bit milder regardless with some areas seeing the low 60s for highs. A light breeze will transition to a gusty west wind as we get deeper into the afternoon in the wake of the front.
It'll stay a bit breezy overnight into Friday with temperatures falling into the 30s once again.
Friday and Saturday
Friday will start off dry with clouds and a breeze, and they'll both stick around through the day. As we get into the afternoon, a storm will be organizing to our south and will track northeast toward Cape Cod overnight. Couple that with one of the coldest May air masses on record nearby and we're in for an interesting ride into the second weekend of the month.
Friday's highs will be in the 40s and low 50s despite the clouds and breeze in place. As our storm approaches, rain showers will develop later in the day and they'll persist into the night. As night falls and colder air continues to seep in, rain will mix with and change to snow from the higher elevations down. The valleys will also see some mixing with, perhaps even some changeover to, snow early Saturday morning. This is to be an extreme example of elevation-dependent spring snow, where even a hundred feet can make a difference between rain and snow. Temperatures overnight will be in the upper 20s to the middle 30s.
Saturday will start off with rain and snow but as our storm pulls out to sea, that precipitation will move out with it. However, we'll still have a good chunk of energy and cold air overhead for the balance of the day. Saturday will be cloudy, windy and cold with highs in the 30s to the middle 40s, along with scattered showers of rain and snow. It will truly be one of the ugliest weather days on record for the month of May in these parts. For Albany, the average high for the day is 67, the record high is 93, but our wind chills this year will be in the 30s.
Sunday into the Week
After the atmosphere is worked over on Friday and Saturday, it'll take some time to recover. Sunday will be the start of that, as we'll have less wind and a bit of sunshine, but highs will still be well below average. Some of the lucky few will see 50 for a high with everyone else hanging in the 40s.
A few spotty showers return for Monday with highs in the 40s to the middle 50s. From there, we look to continue a slow climb out of the weather basement with a much better weekend to follow.
Have a great day!